Bryan Cranston gave an iconic turn as Walter White, and some Breaking Bad episodes highlighted his dramatic range more than others. After years of playing a dorky dad in Malcolm in the Middle, Cranston’s portrayal of Walt in Breaking Bad proved he was capable of so much more. From “Ozymandias” to “Phoenix,” these episodes exemplify that.
10
Cornered
Season 4, Episode 6
Walt talking to Skyler in Breaking Bad
Cranston delivered quite possibly his most iconic monologue of the entire series in the season 4 episode “Cornered.” When Skyler expresses concern that Walt is in danger, he viciously tells her that he’s not in danger — he is the danger. This “I am the one who knocks” speech is ingeniously written, but it’s even more ingeniously performed.
With his red-hot rage, Cranston perfectly captures the subtext of this monologue. Skyler is genuinely worried about Walt’s safety (not to mention that of their kids), but all Walt hears is that she thinks other men are stronger and smarter than him, and that triggers his insecurity. It’s a perfect example of the layers of Cranston’s performance.
9
Full Measure
Season 3, Episode 13
Walt and Gus face off in Breaking Bad’s season 3 finale
Walt pulls off one of his most cunning plans in the season 3 finale, “Full Measure.” As he realizes Gus is going to bump him off and replace him with Gale, Walt comes up with a way to make that impossible. While Mike is distracted by the hit on Walt, Walt sends Jesse to Gale’s apartment to kill him, forcing Gus to keep Walt around.
Cranston always did a good job of showing Walt’s quick thinking under pressure. It’s a tricky tightrope line to walk. Walt needs to be genuinely panicked, so he can’t come up with a solution too easily, but he’s also a genius, so the solution has to come fairly quickly. Cranston managed that back-and-forth balance beautifully.
8
Confessions
Season 5, Episode 11
Walt’s confession in Breaking Bad
Cranston did some of his most impressive acting in Breaking Bad when Walt himself was acting in the show. Whenever Walt lied to his family or manipulated Jesse or feigned an emotion, Cranston had to give a performance within his performance. A perfect example of this is season 5’s “Confessions,” in which Walt comes up with a novel response to Hank’s threats.
After Hank finds out that the elusive Heisenberg he’s been chasing for a year is his own brother-in-law, Walt has to act fast before he can build a case. Walt sends Hank a fake confession video in which he claims that Hank is the real mastermind, and he’s been forcing Walt to cook meth for him. It’s a performance-within-a-performance masterclass.
7
Fly
Season 3, Episode 10
A fly on Walt’s glasses in the Breaking Bad episode “Fly”
Season 3’s “Fly” is mired in controversy, because it’s a bottle episode — and, as such, essentially filler. Wedged in the middle of one of Breaking Bad’s most thrilling seasons, “Fly” takes place almost entirely in the industrial meth lab, where Walt and Jesse spend all night trying to vanquish a housefly that could contaminate their latest batch.
But, while “Fly” doesn’t necessarily advance the plot, it does put a spotlight on Cranston’s performance. He plays Walt’s obsession with the fly and his ensuing spiral into madness with fierce conviction. In a state of delirium, Walt confesses to Jesse that he watched Jane die (although Jesse shrugs it off), and Cranston poignantly shows the guilt gnawing at Walt.
6
4 Days Out
Season 2, Episode 9
Walt and Jesse eating Funyuns in the desert in Breaking Bad
As Walt’s cancer worsens and he fears his time is running out in season 2’s “4 Days Out,” he forces Jesse to join him in the desert for a multi-day meth-cooking marathon. Unbeknownst to Walt, Jesse has left the RV’s keys in the ignition, unwittingly draining its battery and leaving them stranded in the desert with nothing but Funyuns for sustenance.
Cranston does a great job of charting Walt’s emotions throughout this ordeal. At first, he’s infuriated with Jesse. Then, he frantically tries to think of a solution. Then, he gives up and descends into pessimism. Then, finally, Jesse inspires him to come up with a way to save them. It’s a fully fledged arc, and Cranston captures every step of it.
5
Crawl Space
Season 4, Episode 11
Walt laughs in the crawl space in Breaking Bad
This episode deserves a spot on this list for its final scene alone. As an actor, it’s really hard to pull off fake laughter and have it feel real — especially when that laughter is the result of a complete nervous breakdown — but Cranston makes Walt’s psychotic fit at the end of season 4’s “Crawl Space” feel hauntingly real.
After Gus threatens to kill Walt’s entire family, he decides it’s time to go and races home to collect enough cash to recruit the disappearer. But when he gets into the crawlspace, he’s horrified to find that almost all his money is gone. When Skyler confesses that she gave it to her lover Ted, Walt snaps. It’s hilarious and horrifying in equal measure.
4
Felina
Season 5, Episode 16
Bryan Cranston as Walt in a meth lab in the Breaking Bad finale
In Breaking Bad’s series finale, Walt’s story came to an appropriately bittersweet end. He was able to go back to Albuquerque, make some kind of peace with his loved ones, and settle all his scores with his enemies, but he took a lethal gunshot wound in the process. This episode marked the perfect coda to Cranston’s iconic portrayal of this character.
Cranston gave one last powerhouse performance in the finale. He nailed the monologue to Skyler about how it was really all for him, not the family. He nailed the silent final exchange between Walt and Jesse as they spared each other’s lives. And he nailed the melancholic nostalgia of Walt’s last wander around a meth lab in his final moments.
3
Face Off
Season 4, Episode 13
Walt on the phone in Breaking Bad
In the action-packed season 4 finale, “Face Off,” as Walt plays mind games with Gus and Jesse, Cranston plays mind games with the audience. When Jesse suspects that Walt poisoned Brock and comes over to kill him, Walt convinces Jesse — and, by extension, the viewer — that Gus did it in a ploy to get Jesse on board with killing Walt.
However, the final shot of the episode reveals that the opposite is true: Walt poisoned Brock and tricked Jesse into thinking Gus did it to manipulate him into helping with his plot to kill Gus. That shocking twist only works if Cranston successfully convinced the audience that Gus was responsible for the poisoning, and he did.
2
Phoenix
Season 2, Episode 12
Walt watches Jane die in Breaking Bad
Cranston puts on a clinic in the climactic scene of the season 2 episode “Phoenix.” As Walt furiously breaks into Jesse’s house to solve their business dispute once and for all, he finds Jesse and Jane passed out on heroin. As he tries to shake Jesse awake, he unwittingly knocks Jane onto her back and she starts choking on her own vomit.
Walt’s initial instinct is to help her. But then, it occurs to him that if he lets her die, all his problems will go away and Jesse will fall back in line, so he does nothing. He stands over Jane’s spasming carcass and watches her die. Cranston conveys this wide range of emotions and thought processes without saying a word.
1
Ozymandias
Season 5, Episode 14
Walter White Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 14, “Ozymandias”
Breaking Bad’s third-to-last episode, “Ozymandias,” is widely regarded to be the best episode of the show. It’s the explosive climax that the entire series had been building to. Walt’s two lives finally came crashing together and the dire consequences started rolling in: Hank was killed, his son saw him as a monster, and the whole family needed to relocate.
These dramatic payoffs were years in the making, and Cranston pulled off every single one. He nailed the tortured, exasperated, desperate delivery of the line “We’re a family!” He captured the facade of viciousness and undercurrent of anguish as he clears Skyler’s name over the phone. “Ozymandias” sees both Cranston and Breaking Bad itself at their finest.
10/10
Release Date
2008 – 2013-00-00
Showrunner
Vince Gilligan